I recently moved back to California, and among my belongings that were in storage for 25 years, I found a letter from a friend I made in 1990 while working at Romeo Gigli in Milan. That friend was a very shy guy from London, but he clarified during our first lunch together that he was from South London. I could barely understand his accent because I had my own Mexican accent. What brought us together was his toothache. I was sitting at my desk on a sunny Milanese day (Italians are so good at making work environments beautiful, but I remember the sun because Milan can be overly grey during the year). This guy was shown a desk in the middle of the studio to work on a pattern, and he kept holding his cheek in what I thought was pain. I introduced myself and asked if he was okay. He immediately said that he had a toothache, so I offered to find an aspirin, and our friendship was born. I would manage to check on him to see if he understood instructions and explain how the office worked, but pretty soon, we were gossiping about the office bigwigs. I thought he was adorably shy and funny. He would explode into laughter at the stupidest things, and it was contagious!
In those days, Lee was chubby and wore loose clothing, he always had a sweet smile with a wink included. But he always wanted to promote the idea that he was tough and made references to South London (which I had no clue about because I had never been to the UK), but he made it sound really cutthroat and tough. Just reading his letter made me think of how often he shared his vulnerable side, financially and shelter-wise (it was cheaper to live with his parents) while going for his master’s degree at Saint Martins, not even imagining that his big leap was just a year away. He even mustered that he wasn’t sure that he wanted to continue on the path of fashion but instead wanted to travel to North and South America! This letter fills a huge gap in the perception that he was a rebel. I see instead a designer making ends meet while holding his vision of a type of beauty and developing the skills to attain it. On our last hangout, he mentioned that he didn’t know where he was going, but that I could always contact his mum. The one person that he could count on unconditionally! This is my friend, a beautiful soul that left a void in my heart. I share this letter with the intent that those of you who hit a wall remember that even Alexander McQueen thought about quitting fashion.
Carmen Artigas
Please note that reproduction of the letter and images below is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your understanding.
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CARMEN ARTIGAS CONSULTING 